Exxon Valdez Disaster 20 Years On

On March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez left the port of Valdez headed for Long beach, Calif., with almost 54 million gallons of crude oil on board. Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the supertanker collided with Bligh Reef, a well known navigation hazard, ruptured 8 of its 11 cargo tanks and spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine waters of Prince William Sound. The result was catastrophic.

Although the spill was radioed in shortly after the collision Exxons response was slow. In fact, there was no recovery effort for three days while Exxon searched for cleanup equipment. During that time millions of gallons of oil began to spread down the coast. Days later as the cleanup effort began the oil slick was no longer containable. It eventually extended 470 miles to the southwest, contaminated hundreds of miles of coastline.